Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I got this for Christmas from my mother - she knows I'm nuts about ST's...It is so cool. I volunteer on a green turtle beach and this book captured my experience. I can't wait for summer, but this will get me through the winter. Lots of info, great stories, incredible photos (really, really cool!).

Rating:
Summary: The best I've ever had!
Review: I've bought many "coffee table" nature books in the past, but this is absolutely the best. It has all the elements, beautiful photography and writing that draw you in. I stayed up until 2:00 am the night I received this book and read it cover to cover. That's my first test of a great book. The second test, when the things you learned keep coming back to you. I can't stop talking about the all the scientific facts and concepts, the history, and the politics that surround these beautiful creatures. My only problem with the book has been I can't get it back when I lend it to friends.



Rating:
Summary: Ambitious, but successful.
Review: Jim Spotila's new sea turtle book has an ambitious subtitle. In the enormous and ever growing literature on marine turtles, how could any single volume be a "Complete" guide to all the fundamental aspects of their biology and conservation?

Ambitious, but successful. If one had to find a single book to give to a new entrant in the field of sea turtles - or, for that matter, to an advanced sea turtle scientist who was normally focused upon one aspect of sea turtle biology, one locality, or one research technique, this volume would be the one to choose. It succeeds well in giving a thorough, scientific, and up-to-date overview of the field.

The text of "Sea Turtles" breaks down into thirteen chapters, each with a lively or evocative title (from "The Seven Swimmers" (or should it be eight?*) to "Under the Shell;" "The Giant Mariner" to "Dreaming of Eden." The style is highly readable, with many personal anecdotes and comments, which offer both scientific insight into what turtles are all about, and also the sense of wonder and personal dedication that is the hallmark of virtually all the players in this growing field. The scope is truly global - not just literally, for there is no geographic parochialism in this book, but metaphorically also. There are not only detailed accounts of each species, but also good discussions of turtle ":phenomena" - sea turtle ancestry, turtle life cycles, population stresses, navigation, migrations, the arribada phenomenon, the pluses and minuses of head-starting, and so on.

An attractive feature of the book is the inclusion of a number of short biographies, with good photo portraits, of selected individuals who have made major contributions to sea turtle biology. Just a dozen or so had the honor to make "Spotila's list" - a challenging selection task in view of the enormous number of people now doing sea turtle work, but while many real-world winners did not make the list, there were certainly no losers included! One imagines that the Spotila laureates will include this prestigious recognition somewhere near the top of their proud achievements in the next version of their personal CVs.

The photography is superb. Many talented photographers contributed their work, and there are stunning marine turtle images on almost all of the 227 pages of this book, many of them taken underwater and revealing our shelled friends in their true medium, where they look so much more graceful, animated, and at ease than in the usual pictures of an exhausted, sand-covered, weeping turtle struggling to complete its duties on the nesting beach.

*Reviewer's comment.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent collection of photos and information
Review: Sea Turtles by James R. Spotila is a fantastic guide to sea turtle biology and conservation. Scientific information is presented in clear language that is equally useful to adult and school kid. The photos are unsurpassed in beauty. This book explains the precarious situation of these unusual animals, and why we must work to preserve them. Spotila weaves in stories from his own research in Costa Rica, making his experience accessible to all. An excellent read, and lovely coffee table book!